


don't hold your cards too close (is what they say)

by satiricalnerd



Category: Assassination Classroom
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, Comfort/Angst, Gen, Korosensei is dad of the year, Mentions of Emotional Abuse, Nagisa needs therapy, mentions of physical abuse
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-30
Updated: 2020-11-02
Packaged: 2021-03-08 20:48:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 4,799
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27272944
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/satiricalnerd/pseuds/satiricalnerd
Summary: Nagisa and Korosensei talk emotional and physical abuse, and my smol blueberry learns that he doesn't always have to keep his cards close to his chest.
Relationships: Akabane Karma & Shiota Nagisa, Class 3-E & Shiota Nagisa, Kayano Kaede & Shiota Nagisa, Korosensei & Shiota Nagisa
Comments: 24
Kudos: 138





	1. Therapy Time

**Author's Note:**

> The title is from the song "fever dream" by mxmtoon. 
> 
> Since this story is about Nagisa learning to let others in, I figured using that lyric was fitting. XD

Nagisa folded his hands on his desk. He looked up at his teacher who was giving a lecture on factoring binomial expressions, a topic that most of the class, including Nagisa, was struggling with. However, he couldn’t bring himself to focus. When tears blurred up in his eyes, Nagisa turned his face down into his meager notes. 

“You need to focus if you want to pass finals,” Nagisa hissed to himself. He blinked the tears out of his eyes and tried to tune in to Korosensei. 

“Are you alright, Nagisa?” Kaede hissed from the seat next to him. Nagisa nodded, knowing that if he tried to reply verbally, his voice would betray his emotion. 

The lecture continued, and eventually, Nagisa gave up on taking notes. Today was just a bad day. He was sure that tomorrow would be better. After tonight, Nagisa thought that his head would be clear enough to focus. 

“Nagisa?”

He blinked and looked up at Korosensei. “Are you in there, Nagisa? Your classmates all went outside for lunch.” 

“Oh, I’m sorry. Is the lecture over? I must have zoned out, sir.” 

Korosensei placed a tentacle on Nagisa’s shoulder. “Are you sure there isn’t anything you’d like to talk about?”

For a moment, Nagisa considered telling Korosensei everything. Why he kept his hair long, why he always wore sleeves down to his elbows, and why the last Friday of each month was the worst night of Nagisa’s life. 

“It’s nothing, sir. I’m sorry, It’s just difficult to pay attention today.” He averted Korosensei’s gaze.

“Is there any particular reason why it’s today?” Korosensei asked innocently. Nagisa had a sinking feeling that maybe his invincible teacher already knew what he was thinking. Either way, Korosensei had an uncanny ability to discern his student’s emotions. For a moment, Nagisa wondered if that was one of his many powers. 

“We’re having dinner with a family friend tonight,” Nagisa added. “I guess I’m just a bit preoccupied.” He offered up a smile. 

“Nagisa,” Korosensei started slowly, “I’m not going to make you tell me anything that you don’t want me to know. But I am your teacher, and if you are struggling with something, it is part of my obligation to help you! Your peers are all eating lunch right now, it’s just us.” 

Nagisa sighed. Perhaps a little bit of truth wouldn’t hurt. “Whenever my mom takes me out anywhere,” he started cautiously, “she has me dress up like a girl. It just sucks. That’s why I’m a bit … out of it today. Just thinking about having to dress up tonight is all.” 

“I see,” Korosensei said thoughtfully. “Have you tried speaking with her on this matter? I find that often, in parent-student relationships, communication is key.” 

“I have,” Nagisa admitted, flinching at the memory of the last time he spoke honestly with his mother. “She is insistent on it.”

Korosensei paused for a moment. He placed his tentacle on Nagisa’s shoulder gently. “It’s not the prerogative of the parent to determine what clothes or hairstyle their child has. Would you be alright with me speaking to her?”

Nagisa shook his head vigorously. “That wouldn’t end well. Sorry, sir.” 

Looking directly into his eyes, Korosensei seemed to be observing Nagisa’s physical reaction to his words. “I doubt she could do any damage to me,” he said, almost jokingly. “If you kids haven’t managed to assassinate me yet, I doubt she could.” 

Nagisa got the feeling that Korosensei was looking right through him. His small white eyes were waiting patiently for his response. 

“That’s not what I’m worried about, Korosensei sir.” The words slipped out before Nagisa could stop himself from saying them. 

“Does your mother ever hurt you physically, Nagisa?” 

The words rang out through the classroom. In the silence, Nagisa could hear the happy chatter of his classmates who were goofing off over lunch outside the E Class building. 

“Sometimes,” Nagisa admitted. “But not often, and it’s usually not severe. She’s just doing what she thinks will help me.” 

He took a moment, realizing that that was the first time he had admitted that aloud to anyone, even to himself. 

“I think I have a clearer picture of you now, Nagisa. Thank you for talking to me,” Korosensei said. It wasn’t the response that he expected.

“I would like to offer my help in this matter and ask that you tell me or Mr. Karasuma if your mother decides to be violent against you again,” Korosensei said. 

“You sure that will work?” Nagisa asked. 

“I wouldn’t underestimate me, Nagisa,” Korosensei added wryly. “I would think that you would know that by now. I’m prepared to take whatever action that we both agree would be necessary. Especially in a case like yours.” 

Nagisa opened his mouth to say something, but the words weren’t coming. His eyes were filled with tears and it took everything he could muster to hold them back. 

“I have an idea for how we can solve your most immediate problem,” Korosensei said introspectively. 

Nagisa looked up at his teacher. 

“Don’t worry about it. I’ll mention it to the class when everyone comes back from their lunch break, which should be in about ten minutes. I’ll give you some time in here by yourself for the remainder of your break.” 

With that, Korosensei sped off at Mach 20. Nagisa put his face in his hands, tears wet against his fingers. Despite it all, he smiled to himself. 

About ten to fifteen minutes later, the rest of class 3-E began to filter in. Karma waved in Nagisa’s direction, Nakamura not far behind. Kaede took her seat next to Nagisa. 

“Why didn’t you come out for lunch today?” Kaede asked. Her green-haired head bobbed with concern. 

“Oh,” Nagisa stammered, scratching the back of his head. “I was with Korosensei. I wasn’t able to understand today’s lecture, and he was helping me.” 

Not a word of that was untrue, Nagisa thought to himself.

“Oh, okay!” Kaede said, putting on her typical smile. Once the entire class was in their seats, Korosensei returned to class at Mach 20 with a cup of coffee in one tentacle. 

“Just coffee?” Karma remarked. “Usually you have something more extravagant with you.”

“Oh no, boys and girls,” Korosensei said, his face shining in stripes of green and yellow. “This isn’t just any coffee. This is Vietnamese Iced Coffee, and it’s a very unique blend at that. I’m just thankful it didn’t warm up on the fast trip back here.”

Nagisa could almost hear Karma roll his eyes. 

“Well,” Korosensei said, the stripes vanishing from his face as he set his coffee down on his desk, “I have a proposition for you, class.” 

Everyone looked around curiously. 

“Tonight is Friday, and with the finals for first term fast approaching, I think everyone could use a break; a calm before the storm, per se.” 

The whispers around the classroom intensified. 

“How about we all spend the night here at the school!” Korosensei suggested. “It would be a great opportunity to assassinate me, as well as to have some fun experiences with your fellow classmates. Some ambitious students might even find time to get some finals preparations done.”

The mood in class 3-E skyrocketed. 

“Imagine the pranking opportunities!”   
“I’m gonna off that yellow octopus tonight - once and for all!” 

Nagisa just smiled to himself. When Korosensei gave the class a moment to express their excitement, he looked at Nagisa knowingly.

The blue-haired boy was nearly overwhelmed with delight.

With the class still in disarray, Korosensei approached Nagisa’s desk. 

“I already called your mother,” he said. “I told her that you would be spending the night studying at the school in order to boost your grades.”

Nagisa breathed out a sigh of relief.

“Now, dear boy,” Korosensei said, “I do expect you to study tonight. After all, factoring algebraic functions will be on the finals exam for sure.” 

As his enigma of a teacher began to start today’s lecture on biology, Nagisa smiled to himself.

For the first time in a long time, he felt lightweight and unburdened. He knew that the problem wasn’t solved, but he knew that he had Korosensei and the rest of class 3-E behind him.


	2. Sleepover Time

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Later that night, Class 3-E gathers for a sleepover with the still emotionally volatile Nagisa.

Later that night, Nagisa was bundled up in his sleeping bag. He was a bit uncomfortable; the hard wooden floor didn’t make for easy sleeping. Nagisa was grateful enough that Korosensei had snatched his sleeping bag from his house, he would feel guilty asking for his pillow as well. It was well after midnight, and the rest of Class 3-E was still running rampant. Nagisa groaned, realizing that there was no way he was going to sleep tonight. 

“Come on man, when’s the next time we’re going to spend the night out here?” Karma said, shaking Nagisa’s sleeping bag. 

The blue-haired boy squinted at his persistent friend and sighed. 

Karma smirked. “Come on, why do you think the rest of the class is up?”

Nagisa shrugged his shoulders. “Probably an assassination attempt.” 

Karma let go of the sleeping bag, and Nagisa fell to the classroom floor with a thunk. 

“Exactly! Come on, get up! Once Korosensei is asleep, or tired, we make our move,” Karma said with a grin. 

Nagisa rubbed his eyes and climbed out of his sleeping bag. “How thought out is this plan?”

“Oh, it’s pretty flimsy. It’ll sure be fun to watch, though. Hey Nagisa,” Karma added as an afterthought. “You have your notebook? We might find more of Korosensei’s weaknesses tonight.”

“Of course,” Nagisa said. “I always have it on me.” Still rubbing his eyes and exhausted, he pulled the notebook out from his bag on the side of his sleeping quarters. 

“Excellent,” Karma said, with a smart grin that terrified Nagisa. 

There was someone approaching from behind him. Nagisa jumped in anticipation and turned to face them. 

“Nagisa?” It was just Okuda. “You alright?” 

Smiling, Nagisa tucked his hands in his pockets. “Yeah, I’m alright. What’s up, Okuda?”

The purple-haired chemist blushed. “I … created a new type of poison for Korosensei. I’m confident that it will be more lethal than the last few batches.”

“That’s just what I wanted to hear, Okuda,” Karma said with a smirk. He clapped her on the back lightly and said “good work.” 

Okuda blushed more fiercely than before and scratched the back of her head nervously. 

“Kaede and Nakamura are waiting in the backroom,” Okuda said. “Before Korosensei gets back with popcorn from an American movie theater, I should show you two as well.”

Karma nodded. “Come on, Nagisa. Let’s go see what Okuda has whipped up for us!” 

Nagisa smiled briefly and followed his classmates to the backroom, where Nakamura and Kaede were waiting with a vial of poison.

“I can’t wait to give the octopus this stuff,” Nakamura said smugly, tossing the vial between her two hands. 

“Wait! Nakamura! Be careful with that!” Okuda shouted. “That concoction took weeks to make! It’s acidic too- if you drop it-” 

The chemist reached out her hands to grab the vial from Nakamura when it slipped out of her hands. 

Nagisa reached forward to catch the vial, but he was too late. The bottom half of the vial had already shattered on the hardwood floor. Nagisa pulled his hand back and saw that he was holding the vial's cap, and that his hand was scorched.

“I’m sorry, I was too late,” Nagisa said softly, watching his classmate’s reactions. 

Okuda yelled and stumbled backward. “My foot!” 

“Are you alright?” Karma asked. Okuda’s foot was burned, and the angry red flesh was steaming. 

“Nakamura, get some water!” Karma shouted. Nakamura, who had been stunned after the vial slipped from between her fingers, quickly nodded and left the room, running at a dead sprint. 

“Nagisa?” Kaede had approached her friend from the side. “Is your hand alright?” 

Nagisa looked down at his hand. He was holding the upper portion of the vial, and his hand was covered in burns similar to what Okuda had. 

“It’s alright,” he said. “I caught the vial, after all, I just wasn’t quick enough.” 

“But your hand…” 

“It’s not too bad.” Nagisa put on a smile. “Let’s worry about Okuda for now.”

Kaede looked confused, but she nodded and went over to Okuda. Eventually, Nakamura came back with the water and a washcloth. In a few minutes, everything seemed to be settled.

“I’m sorry, Okuda,” Nakamura said softly. “I shouldn't have been joking around with your vial. I know how hard you worked on it.”

“It’s alright,” Okuda said, smiling. “I know you want to assassinate Korosensei just as much as the rest of us. You didn’t mean anything by it.”

Nakamura smiled softly and opened her mouth to say something.

At that moment, the door to the room opened and Korosensei appeared. 

“What happened here?” He said. “The other kids said that you had been in here for a while, and it appears that there has been a mishap.” 

“It’s my fault, Korosensei sir,” Nakamura said, looking down at the ground. “Okuda made a new poison to try and kill you, and I dropped it. Nagisa tried to catch it, but it splashed on her foot and she got burned. I’m sorry, sir.” 

Korosensei was silent for a moment. “Thank you for telling me, Nakamura. A good assassin takes responsibility for every kill, every action.”

In a flash, bandages appeared on Okuda’s foot and she was equipped with a set of crunches. 

“Now Okuda, I commend your choice of a poison composition! As I was cleaning your burns I inspected a small sample that I could find, and let me say that it is a very clever mix of chemicals. However, it most likely would not have killed me. You are definitely getting better at this though, and with the ointment I put on your foot, you should be healed up and ready to go in no time,” Korosensei said. 

“Thank you, sir,” Okuda said, smiling. Karma helped her back into the main classroom, deciding that tonight’s assassination attempt was busted. 

“Nagisa’s also injured,” Kaede said, “He burned his hand when he was trying to catch the vial.” 

Nakamura looked surprised, but it didn’t seem to catch Korosensei off guard. 

“Yeah,” Nagisa said, waving his burned hand in the air. “It’s not too bad though, Okuda definitely got it worse.”

“No matter,” Korosensei said. “I still have bandages and burn cream left over from when I was helping Okuda.” 

Before Nagisa could blink, his right hand was wrapped in a white bandage, and his burns felt almost nonexistent. 

“Oh, uh, thank you,” Nagisa said.

“No problem, my dear boy,” Korosensei responded, smiling as if nothing had happened. “However, I would highly caution against attempting to catch harmful poisons again.” 

Nagisa nodded, understanding. 

“Your hand- does it hurt?” Kaede asked. 

Nagisa wasn’t sure how to respond. What could he say that wouldn’t sound depressing? That he was used to pain? That it didn’t bother him, because he deserved it? 

He decided to settle with a simple no. 

“No, not really,” Nagisa said, averting Kaede’s gaze. 

Maybe it was his encounter with Korosensei earlier in the day that made his lie sound halfhearted. He didn’t like mentioning his mother, and hearing those words from his own mouth had thrown him off his guard.

It didn’t help that he was the reason that everyone was here in the first place. If Korosensei hadn’t seen right through Nagisa, he would be at dinner with his mother and their family friends, masquerading as a girl. Subject to questions about boys, and forced to smile at complements of his beauty. 

“Nagisa, is something wrong?” Kayano Kaede asked. Her brown eyes shone with concern as she looked at him. 

“It’s not-”

“Nagisa,” Korosensei interjected. “Sometimes talking with other people helps. No one can solve anything alone. You’ll find, as I have, that the power of one man is very little. Unless of course, that one man in a superbeing such as me. Nufufufufufu!”

With that, Korosensei departed at Mach 20 to return to the main part of the classroom. 

“What was that about?” Kaede asked. “Did something happen?”

“I’m going to take this opportunity to leave,” Nakamura said with a half-smile. “Think I’ve done enough damage for today. Gonna cut my losses.” She walked out of the classroom, leaving Kaede and Nagisa alone in the backroom. 

Kaede looked at Nagisa with concern shining in her eyes. “You don’t have to say anything, but I’m worried about you. You’ve been acting weird all today.” 

“It’s alright,” Nagisa said, biting his tongue. “Korosensei is right. He usually is.” 

There was a pregnant pause. 

“My mom makes me dress up like a girl sometimes,” Nagisa started slowly, gauging Kayano’s reaction. “Korosensei got me out of one of those times tonight by having this class event.” 

“Wait- seriously? Nagisa, that’s horrible! I knew your mom was a bit … strict, but to think that she would do that?” Kaede seemed genuinely upset.

“It’s why I keep my hair long,” he added. Part of him couldn’t believe that he was sharing this part of his life for a second time today. 

“That’s awful,” Kayano said. Nagisa saw tears brimming in the corners of her eyes. 

“She’s just doing what she thinks is best. There’s no need for you to cry over it,” Nagisa said, colder than he wanted to. 

“But that’s so messed up!” 

“Yeah,” Nagisa agreed halfheartedly. “You won’t tell anyone, right?”

Kayano shook her head vigorously. Her eyes still shone bright with tears. 

Against his better judgment, Nagisa wrapped his right arm around her shoulders. 

“I’m sorry I didn’t tell you sooner.”

“That’s alright.” 

Nagisa felt a weird feeling in his chest. It was a warm, peaceful feeling. Relief? Perhaps. He wouldn’t have guessed this morning that he would be telling both Korosensei and Kayano what was going on with him, but a small part of him was glad that he did.

Nothing about his situation had changed, so why did he feel so relieved? Was Korosenesi right? Did letting others in really have that big of an impact?

Probably, Nagisa thought to himself. He hadn’t known Korosensei to be wrong yet.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you guys liked this chapter! 
> 
> Next chapter we diverge from canon a bit, and explore how Korosensei and the rest of Class 3-E would react to a situation where Nagisa's mother has physically abused him, and what action the octopus would take to ensure Nagisa's physical and emotional safety. This fic will have a happy end, and shouldn't diverge from canon much. 
> 
> I will try and fit a conclusion in one more chapter, but it might end up being two.
> 
> As always, feel free to leave comments and kudos behind! Criticisms and encouragement are both great! Thanks again!


	3. Hiromi Time

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nagisa returns home after spending the night in the E Class building.

The morning after the sleepover was filled with drowsy teenagers pretending that they had managed to stay up all night.  
Of course, no one could vouch for them, because not a single one of them managed to keep their heavy eyes open for long enough to tell. 

Nagisa, who had been one of the first students asleep, seemed to be the only one who was fully rested. 

“Karma, you’ve got to get up,” Nagisa said, looking down on his friend. 

“Please don’t,” Karma said, his voice muffled through the sleeping bag as he squinted up at Nagisa. 

“If you don’t get up, I’m going to leave you here and walk down the mountain myself,” Nagisa threatened. 

Karma groaned. His fiery red hair was a complete mess, and black bags of ink hung from underneath his eyes. 

Griping the entire time, Karma stepped out of the sleeping bag. He was still in his school uniform, which was now a crumpled mess. 

Nagisa sighed, face palming. 

Thirty minutes later, Nagisa and a disheveled Karma were walking down the mountain side. 

“Do you know where Korosensei went?” Karma asked. “I stayed up all night, but I didn’t see him leave. Didn’t see him go to sleep either.”

Nagisa snorted. “There’s no way you were up all night. You were absolutely conked out this morning.” 

Karma blushed angrily. “You wouldn’t know, you couldn’t even stay up until one in the morning.”

Nagisa shrugged. “That was by choice.”

“Sure, if you say so,” Karma taunted. 

Nagisa rolled his eyes. When the friends reached the bottom of the mountain, they went their separate ways, to their respective neighborhoods. 

For just a moment, Nagisa wished that he’d said something to Karma about his situation with his mother. 

He’d told Korosensei, who had in turn encouraged him to share it with others. However, only Kaede and his teacher knew, and Nagisa felt like he owed it to his friend to let him know what was going on. 

In fact, he thought, he should have said something a long time ago. The weight lifted off his chest was almost unbelievable. He felt like a helium balloon, light and floating. Everything still felt unreal to him, but in a good way. He just hoped that he wouldn’t pop. 

When Nagisa reached his house he rapped his knuckles on the front door. 

The door shot open in an instant, and there was Hiromi standing, waiting for him. 

A shiver went down Nagisa’s spine. 

“Did you get a lot of studying done last night?” Hiromi asked, although her tone was more accusatory than inquisitive. 

“Yes I did, Mom,” Nagisa said, looking his mother dead in the eyes. “I worked on factoring quadratic equations.”

Hiromi snorted. “You should have known better than to decide not to show up last night.” 

Nagisa had been worried that it would come to this.

“You always say my grades come first,” he said, a bit colder and sharper than he wanted to.

Hiromi’s eyes went near black. At that moment, Nagisa knew that he’d made an awful mistake. He shouldn’t have skipped last night’s dinner. He shouldn’t have spoken out of turn with his mother. And most importantly, he shouldn’t have shared his personal issues with anybody. 

Nagisa felt his mother's hands on his ponytails as he was dragged inside. He heard the door shut behind him, and kept thinking about how he could possibly diffuse the situation.

But looking at his mother through the blur as she smashed his head into the wall, he realized that it was too late for that. The best he could do now was to take her injuries and wait.

Hiromi shouted incoherent things at her son. Nagisa only caught a few phrases, like “ungrateful brat”, and “do you know how hard I worked?” 

In fact, the only thing he could do was endure and wait.

Monday morning, Nagisa snuck out of his house using the back window, not wanting to see his mother on his way out. 

He walked to school, thinking to himself about the events of the weekend. With sadness in his heart, he reminisced about that Friday night, and wished that it could happen again. Besides all this, he knew that it wouldn’t. He promised himself to not say anything more to Korosensei, or to Kaede. 

What exactly had talking gotten him? Relief, but only for a moment. Several hours of relief wasn’t exactly comforting when both of Nagisa’s arms and the back of his neck were covered in bandages. The cuts and bruises underneath smarted, worse than usual. There was a red bruise on his jaw that he couldn’t cover up, and that worried Nagisa the most.

This might be the first time, Nagisa thought to himself, that I’m glad my hair is long. 

When he reached the top of the mountain, he walked into class 3-E with a nervous bubble in his chest. 

The class, not used to seeing him with his hair long, was silent as he entered. Nagisa took his seat, and felt as though all eyes were on him.

“What happened to your hair, Nagisa?” Kaede asked. 

“Oh,” Nagisa said, putting on a convincing smile. “I just thought I’d switch it up today.”

That seemed to settle the matter for most of the class. Only Kaede seemed to still look concerned. 

“Oh, Okuda! Before I forget, is your foot feeling better?” Nagisa asked, almost shouting across the room.

Okuda gave him a thumbs up. “It’s still a bit red, but the burns are feeling a lot better!” 

Nagisa kept his mask on the entire day. When called on in class, he’d give Korosensei his signature smile, and answer as best as he could. He joked around with Nakamura and Karma at lunch, and talked assassination plans with Sugino and Kanzaki. Then, finally, the end of the school day came. With a heavy heart, Nagisa packed his books up in his bag and prepared to return home. 

Most of his classmates were already out the door. Nagisa was about to follow them when -

With a fast woosh of speed, Nagisa felt his blue hair lift into its normal ponytails. 

“Korosensei?” Nagisa said, jumping and turning around quickly. 

“I just figured it was weird that you decided to keep your hair down today,” the octopus said. 

The few kids left in Class 3-E decided that they shouldn’t interrupt what was going on, and the remainder of the class pushed past Nagisa to the exit. 

When the two of them were alone, Korosensei took it upon himself to say “your bruises and the blood on your sleeve wouldn’t have anything to do with what we talked about on Friday, would they?” 

“Blood on my sleeve?” Nagisa said, surprised. He looked down at his right arm to find that a small red stain had seeped through the bandages he’d applied earlier that morning. 

“Has that been there all morning?” Nagisa asked, embarrassed and nervous.

“Since the fourth period,” Korosensei responded. 

“Sir, I’m sorry,” Nagisa said, preparing for his teacher to be angry with him for concealing his injuries. He braced himself out of habit.

“Nagisa,” Korosensei said softly. “I’m not going to hurt you.”

Still staring down at the ground, Nagisa nodded. 

Korosensei placed a tentacle on Nagisa’s shoulder. 

“I would like to apologize. I believe that I underestimated your situation on Friday. I did not anticipate my actions having a harmful effect on you in the future. As your teacher, I should have done something to prevent your injuries.” 

Nagisa shook his head. “It’s not your fault. Friday night was … awesome.” 

Korosensei paused. “I’m glad you enjoyed yourself, Nagisa, but I still should have anticipated the effects of my actions to a better degree.” 

“It’s my own fault,” Nagisa said, preparing to launch into an explanation. After all, it was his fault, wasn’t it? He knew that his mother would react negatively to Nagisa not showing up for that dinner. 

“I’m going to stop you right there, my dear boy,” Korosensei said. “It is not your fault that your mother is hurting you. She is the one to blame.” 

Nagisa shook his head and looked down at his shoes. “It’s not her fault. She’s super stressed out right now, and she’s doing her best for me. I should have known-”

“No,” Korosensei said. He lifted Nagisa’s head with his tentacle, so the two were looking eye to eye. “It is not your fault, Nagisa.”

For a moment, the two stayed where they were. Nagisa’s mind was racing. He knew that Korosensei had to be wrong about this, but had the octopus been wrong in an area like this before?

His words sunk in. It wasn’t his fault. As much as he hated to admit it, he had never thought about it in that way. A part of him wanted to keep explaining why it was his fault, and why he deserved everything his mother gave him. But another, now stronger part, was beginning to realize what Korosensei had known all along. 

Before Nagisa could realize what he was doing, he was crying. Korosensei wrapped Nagisa in tentacles and pulled him close. At the same time, his other tentacles were obtaining kleenex boxes and chocolate treats. 

Warm tears flowed from Nagisa’s eyes as he held onto his teacher. Korosensei was saying something to him, something that Nagisa couldn’t hear over the ringing in his ears.

However, it didn’t matter. A comforting hug like this meant more than any words. 

After a time, Nagisa pulled away and looked at his teacher with puffy eyes. 

He was immediately offered a copious amount of tissue, which he took advantage of. 

A half-hour later, Nagisa was munching on chocolates in Korosensei’s office as the teacher-student duo brainstormed ways to help fix Nagisa’s situation permanently.

“Unfortunately,” Korosensei said, “I can’t just have you live here. As much as I’d love to have you, the police would likely get involved. Plus, it’s only a temporary situation. You’re still planning on assassinating me, right?”

Nagisa nodded. “Of course.”

“So where would you go after then? We need to figure out a permanent solution, ideally one that complies with the law.”

“I could live with Karma or Kaede,” Nagisa suggested.

Korosensei looked thoughtful. “Although I’m sure both Karma and Kaede would love to have you live with them, I can’t speak for their families. However, I won’t discount the idea.” 

“What about,” Nagisa said, almost afraid of the words, “my dad?”

Korosensei’s face displayed a red circle, signifying a correct answer. “That’s exactly what I was thinking.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you all liked this chapter!
> 
> I have one more chapter in the works that will conclude this work. Thanks for reading!  
> As always, comments and kudos are appreciated!
> 
> Have a great week everyone <3

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading! This is my first assclass fic, but I've also written for Fullmetal Alchemist (Brotherhood) and Attack on Titan. 
> 
> Feel free to leave comments! Criticism and encouragement are both appreciated. If I get enough support, I'm considering adding two or three more chapters to this fic :P
> 
> Thanks again, y'all!


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